According to the conventional belief of those skilled in the art of circuit design, high frequency and wideband frequency operation are incompatible requirements in the same circuit. By high frequency, it is meant frequencies substantially greater than one MHz and tending upwards into the GHz range. For example, it is generally accepted that tuned oscillators (e.g., LC-tuned) are capable of operation at high frequencies, but have a narrow band of frequency adjustment for a given tuning element. Relaxation oscillators, for example (e.g., emitter-coupled multivibrators), on the other hand, have a wide range of frequency adjustment, but have been limited to a relatively low maximum frequency operation in the range of one MHz. For a detailed discussion of these conventional principles see, for example, Chapter 11 of Alan B. Grebene's textbook entitled Bipolar and MOS Analog Integrated Circuit Design, John Wiley Sons, 1984.
In the present and future environment in which high speed telecommunications and other demanding electronics are so important, it would be advantageous to have available circuits of a more universal nature. Importantly, such circuits could be utilized in a wide variety of applications having different requirements regarding frequency operation and bandwidth, without circuit redesign or readjustment.